Significant advances have been made in the ergonomics of work stations and in the education of workers for jogs requiring substantial amounts of lifting, and a variety of back movements while on the job. Even so, increasing significant costs in terms of employee injuries, medical expenses, and workmen""s compensation continue to be incurred by employers. In fact, back related injuries and their related costs to employers for workmen""s compensation currently exceed sixty billion dollars annually in the United States alone. Such figures exclude indirect costs, in the form of lost productivity of injured employees, recruitment and training of replacement workers, and allowing for light duty for injured employees, not to mention the pain and disability incurred by injured employees.
Systems and methods have been developed for assessing and evaluating the degree of movement of the human spine (indicative of past injuries or a tendency to incur future injuries). Such systems and methods include the measuring of various parameters, such as flexion, extension, side bending, rotation, and the like. Patents which use devices and methods for measuring some of these parameters compared to a standard for permitting evaluation are disclosed in the United States patents to Croce No. 4,858,126; Gracovetsky No. 4,971,069; Farfan de los Godos No. 5,647,375; and Marmer No. 6,056,671.
The United States patent to Hanoun No. 5,997,440 is directed to a device for measuring various degrees of motion of the cervical muscles through head movement only. The measurements are obtained and provided to a computer for comparison with a pre-established standard or model. The United States patent to Gracovetsky No. 4,655,227 is directed to an automatic comparison system and method for measuring movement of the spine utilizing a mathematical model, and measuring the angle of flexion while the patient is undergoing specified exercises. This is accomplished through the use of sensors placed on the patient, to provide an automatic readout to a computer for the evaluation.
Another approach for measuring various motor activities performed by an individual is disclosed in the United States patent to VanLummel No. 6,165,143. This patent discloses a system providing a comparative readout of different parameters as the patient performs pre-assigned tasks.
None of the foregoing patents, however, is directed to a methodology and system for providing a comprehensive analysis of a number of back movement measurements, all of which are compared to a pre-established known threshold or standard for determining, in advance, the potential for a worker or a job applicant to incur a back injury for specific jobs requiring lifting and substantial back movement. It is desirable to provide a method and system for use by employers which provides a comprehensive analysis of the potential of a worker to subsequently develop back injuries on jobs requiring lifting and back movement.
It is an object of this invention to provide a method for evaluating the capability of a person for performing various physical tasks.
It is another object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for objectively determining the potential of a person for developing subsequent back injuries in the performance of certain tasks.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for objectively passing or rejecting employees for certain jobs based on measurements of a plurality of back motions.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for evaluating the capability of a person to perform physical tasks by providing a standard reference threshold value for predetermined physical characteristics, measuring the predetermined physical characteristics of a person, and comparing the measured characteristics with the standard references. The comparison then is utilized to provide a pass/fail determination of the person to perform the physical tasks based on the results obtained by comparing the measured value with the reference value.